PHOENIX — Phoenix City Council approved a plan to provide civilian police oversight, including investigative powers, after months of contentious debate.
By a 5-4 vote, the council approved the “Office of Accountability and Transparency” proposal championed by Councilmember Carlos Garcia. OAT will become a new city department, separate from the police department, which will include both a community review board and a unit dedicated to monitoring and investigating police complaints, ABC15 Arizona reported.
The vote came after a heated public comment period at Tuesday night’s meeting. Many community members spoke out against ‘Model A,’ which was a proposal by Mayor Kate Gallego that was more moderate when compared to Garcia’s model.
After her plan was lambasted for hours, and it appeared neither plan would pass, Gallego made the decision to support Garcia’s proposal but said, “I do have concerns with the implementation of Model B.”
“I’m really excited that the community came out and their testimony definitely made a difference. People were telling their stories and those of us on the council listened,” said Councilman Garcia.
“I’m grateful for the mayor and that she made this shift. And the big thing now is going to be implementation and [to] make sure that we get this done right.”
In addition to Garcia and Gallego, Vice Mayor Betty Guardado and Councilmembers Michael Nowakowski and Laura Pastor voted for civilian oversight. Councilmembers Jim Waring, Thelda Williams, Sal DiCiccio, and Debra Stark voted against the plan.
Both Phoenix police unions opposed both options. They spoke out against the concept of the Civilian Oversight Board over the past year and said they are still skeptical about the board’s power and potential agenda.
“I can say right now that the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association cannot support any model that does not show how the entire Phoenix community, which includes police officers, benefits,” said Phoenix Law Enforcement Association president Michael “Britt” London. “You never buy the first model of a car, right? Something always goes wrong and there’s always something to work out.”
“This plan is actually designed to create conflicts between the department’s investigations and a parallel investigation conducted by investigators that will not have the experience and training the members of the department have,” said Ben Leuschner of the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association.
Councilman DiCicco opposed the plan. He said police officers aren’t bad, they just had “one bad year.” He was referring to 2018 when Phoenix had more officer-involved shootings than any city in the country.
Councilman Jim Waring also voted in opposition.
“To the officers, I know you got an extremely tough job. I, personally, don’t want to add to your burdens, which I think this will today,” he said.
OAT will intake complaints about police and will have a role in investigating those complaints. When the Phoenix Police Department opens a professional standards investigation for alleged misconduct, OAT will conduct a parallel investigation, including questioning officers and witnesses. Both the internal and OAT investigators will provide reports with disciplinary recommendations directly to the police chief.
“It’s a big deal to have investigative powers,” Garcia said. “We need the ability to make sure that an independent investigator is in the room and through the process and does their own reporting of each individual case along with advising policy.”
Joe Clure, executive director of the Arizona Police Association, said Wednesday that civilian oversight of Phoenix police was potentially dangerous and could create even more conflict in the community, KTAR News reported. The director has a unique perspective since he previously worked for the Phoenix Police Department.
“If it’s implemented where you have folks that are simply antipolice who are sitting on these boards and doing these investigations, I think you’re going to have absolute chaos and every move a police officer makes will be even more politicized,” Clure said during an interview with KTAR’s The Mike Broomhead Show.
“It would get real dangerous for law enforcement when you have civilians who do not understand the dynamcis of force situations, be they deadly force or otherwise,” Clure said.
The phoenix police chief has no option but to do her best with the situation.
“As chief, I am committed to devoting the resources of our department to work collaboratively with this new office,” Chief Jeri Williams said in a statement, according to KTAR.
The plan offered by Mayor Gallego was criticized by dozens of community members at the meeting, saying if fell short since it lacked independence and full investigatory authority.
Gallego said her ombudsman plan had “multiple voices incorporated,” but when she could not muster enough council votes, she shifted her support to the OAT model.
“I think our duty is to implement good, sound policy that will help bring positive change for all residents we serve and last beyond our own tenure on the council,” Gallego said to kick off the meeting Tuesday.
As a result, the oversight will be a mix of review, audit and investigation and will operate independent of the department.
“What kind of training are these folks going to have that are going to sit in these investigations?” Clure said.
The department came under heavy criticism in 2018 for a record 44 officer-involved shootings.
“There was lots of concerns about that, as there should be,” Clure said. “What people want to gloss over is the fact that every one of them I believe were justified under the law and were reactionary on the part of the police officer as a result of the hostile actions of the individuals involved.”
A lengthy report released by the nonprofit National Police Foundation in 2019 concluded there were no major issues with department training or policies. But the study did recommend several areas for improvement, including better transparency with the community.
Last year, Phoenix officer-involved shootings fell to 15, according to statistics compiled by KTAR News.
Clure said the council’s action “further reinforces the fact that … there is little police support. That weighs on your determinations on how you police and whether or not you even want to police.”
